[Episcopal News Service] The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia has announced a slate of four nominees to stand for election as the diocese’s sixth bishop.

The nominees are:

• The Very Rev. Mark Bourlakas, 49, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville, Kentucky;
• The Rev. Jeanne Finan, 62, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Asheville, North Carolina;
• The Rev. Gail Greenwell, 57, rector of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, Kansas; and
• The Rt. Rev. David Rice, 51, bishop of the Diocese of Waiapu in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

Detailed information about the four nominees is available here.

A petition process for submitting additional candidates will run until Dec. 18.

The nominees will participate in a visit to the diocese March 1-3, 2013, during which time they will meet with clergy and lay people of the diocese.

The bishop election will take place on March 9 and the ordination is scheduled for July 20.

The sixth bishop will succeed the Rt. Rev. Neff Powell, who has served as the diocese’s fifth bishop since 1996.